PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Aroostook Centre Mall in Presque Isle is now home to a new eatery in the food court, run by a mother and daughter pair from Washburn who are anxious to serve a variety of homemade meals and sweets.
Allison Page and her daughter Sarah Grindle opened Momma Bears Bake Shop on Sept. 4 in the former Tim Horton’s location, nearly one month after the locally-owned K-Zone Electronics opened in the former Olde Rustic Attic store.
The duo officially began Momma Bears this past summer as a home-based business and also sold during summer fairs and festivals. But the responses from community members was so positive in such a short period of time that they decided to look at storefront options.
“At the [Northern Maine] Fair we were selling out of everything and probably saw hundreds of people during that time. We couldn’t keep up,” Page said. “We already had repeat customers and a lot of followers on social media.”
Cookies, muffins and cake squares are just some of the sweets that mother and daughter pair Allison Page and Sarah Grindle are now baking and selling at Momma Bears Bake Shop in the Aroostook Centre Mall.
(Staff photo/Melissa Lizotte)
Page and Grindle originally planned to search for store locations next summer, but moved up that process in order to better serve their customer base. Both of them felt encouraged after hearing that the mall, after having lost almost all major retail chain stores in recent years, wanted to invest in small local businesses.
Since opening, Grindle noted, she and her mother have seen an average of 75 to 100 customers per day. While many customers are just discovering that they’re in the mall, others have already made a point to come back.
“I love all their sweets. Their whoopie pies are my favorite,” said Shanae Reed of Washburn, who came to visit Momma Bears for the second time on Wednesday. “It’s a good thing for the mall to have them here.”
Page noted that Momma Bears is unique because the business is not just a bakery. Aside from popular desserts — cookies, whoopie pies, fudge, muffins and doughnuts — they also sell hot meals such as spaghetti and meatballs, haddock casserole, shepherd’s pie, chicken fingers, burgers, french fries, macaroni and cheese, sub sandwiches and sandwich wraps. They will also sell soups starting in October.
“Our haddock casseroles, shepherd’s pie and cheeseburger baskets are probably our most popular meals,” Page said. “We also sell gluten-free desserts and dairy-free whoopie pies.”
Cookies, muffins and cake squares are just some of the sweets that mother and daughter pair Allison Page and Sarah Grindle are now baking and selling at Momma Bears Bake Shop in the Aroostook Centre Mall.
(Staff photo/Melissa Lizotte)
With Momma Bears, both mother and daughter are stepping into the world of food business for the first time. Page previously ran a daycare while Grindle owned a craft store in Dexter, before moving home to Washburn. In the future, they hope to begin taking phone and delivery orders.
As they settle into their new location at the mall, Page and Grindle hope to help families and friends connect with one another through food, whether that means finding meals that the entire family can love or sitting down with a friend at the food court for a cup of coffee and sweets.
“What makes us unique is that we’re just regular people with regular old recipes, like when you go to your mother’s house for dinner,” Grindle said.
Page added, “I think not being a chain business means that we can adapt to the needs of the public more easily. We want to have reasonable prices and friendly customer service.”
For many customers, Momma Bears Bake Shop might just become a regular stop during their visits to Presque Isle.
“They’re very friendly and nice,” said Doreen Turcotte of Grand Falls, New Brunswick, as she stopped by Momma Bears after a day of shopping. “Having them here will make me want to come back to the mall.”
